Praying Hyde - John Hyde's Prayer Life - by Francis McGaw - brought by The School of Prayer's Founder - Peter-John Parisis

PRAYING HYDE

Glimpses of the amazing prayer-
life of a missionary in India
whose intercession "changed
things" for the Sialkot Revival

FRANCIS A. McGAW

r

r

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The undersigiietl is grateful for tlie pri-

vilege of Ijeing, not the author of this

sketch, but the compiler of material that

others have so j^enerously furnished.

Among those who have helped, in this way

and by prayer, are : the Rev. R. McCheyne

Patersoii, Sialkot. Punjab, India ; the Rev.

W. B. Anderson, United Presbyterian

Board, Philadelphia, Pa.; Ifr. F. Kehl,

240 Lower Circular Road, Calcutta. In-

CoPYRlCMT, 1923, BV

dia ; the Rev, J, Pengwcrn Jonts, Maulvi

The SuiTDAY School Times Company

Bazaar. South Sylliet, India ; the Rev. E.
M. Wherry, Lodiana, India: Miss C. B.

Herron. Apostolic Faith Mission, Saha-

ranpiir. India; the Rev. Albert G. McGaw,

Ftah, India ; Dr. Robert E. Speer and the

Rev. H, C. Velte, Presbyterian Board of

Foreign Missions. New York City ; Mrs,

Mary Hyde Hall, Jacksomdlle. 111. ; Mrs,

Gratia Hyde Bone. Prairie City, 111. ; Miss

Martha Gray, Wansaw, 111,; Mr. Robert

^^■L

E. Esterly. Minneapolis, Minn.; Mrs. J.

^P

1 larvey Borton. Moorestowu, N. J.; Mrs.

Edwin B. YouJig, Wayne, Neb.

Will readers unite in prayer that revival

fires may. by the torch of thiii little lx)ok,

be kindled in needy fields all oyer this

Printed in the Uhiteh States of America

eartli ?

FuA^jcrs A. McGaw.

Akron, Ohio.

CHRONOLOGY

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H Born at 1

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 the 1

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 1

Graduated from McOjnnick Seiniiiiiry 1892

Sent to India by tlic Prcsljyteriau Board 1892

Came home on first fiirioiigli I9"i

Witnessing in power at the First Sialkot

Convention ^9^4

Helped to organize the Ptnijab Prayer

Union 1904

Organized Feoszcporif - now iMoga-

Training School iQ'o

Last journey to America began Mar. 1911

Called home to be with the Lord from

Northampton, Mass , . !■ eh. i -. 1 9 1 i

Biirfed at Moss Ridge Cemetery, Carth-

age, 111 Felj. ^0, 1912

Will be raised up in Glory . . . When

Jesus Comes Again.

'7 have fouffitt tlw itond !\fjh!, 1 hm-c fiuhhfd !lr,'

,

frywsc, 1 have l^ept the failli; !u-iii:i-foi-lli Ihrrs id

.

laid up for mc fhc cr'nvn »f ni)h!^<nisite3s, ■a.-hldt ikf

^^^^^^^1

Lord, ihc ;■!.;;/.■;. -i';!.,' /rff/,^.\ shujl gpue io we at IJtai

^^^^^^^fe

day; mid it!>f '.. »:: .ji/.v. Inn mttv all ihem aha thai

Imie Ills fl/,/,,(,p-!'7/."— I'.^rr,.

PRAYING HYDE

Christ in the Home

JESUS said, "To-day I must abide at thy house"
[Luke 19 ; 5). What a blessed day that was in
the home of Zacchaeus — Chrijit in the home I
J ohn Hyde,'^The Appstie of Prayer," as he was often
called^ was reared in a home where Jesus was an
abiding guest, and where the dwellers in that hotne
breathed an atmosphere of prayer. I was well ac-
quainted with John's father, Smith Harris Hyde,
D.D., during the seventeen years lie was pastor of
tiie Presbyterian Church at Carthage, Tlhnois. Dr.
Herrick Johnson, of Chicago, shortly before he died
wrote these words : "Hyde's father was of rare
proportion and balance, a healthful soul, genial and
virile, firm of convlctitjn, of good scholarly attain-
ment, of ahu!idaiit cheer and bent on doing for God
to the best oi his ability."

Personally i knew him in his home to lie a courte-
ous, lo\'ing husband, 1 knew him to Iw a firm yet
sympathetic father, "commanding his household after
him." f knew the sweet-spirited, gentle, music-lov-
ing, Christ-like Mrs, Hyde, I knew each one of the
three boys and three girls who grew up in that home.
Often I have eaten at their table. Twice T have been
with the family when the crepe w^s on the door;

A

once when Mrs. Hyde was taken away, and again
when dear Jolin's body was brought liome and lov-
ingly laid to rest in Moss Ridge Cemetery. Often
I have kneeled with them and have, as a young min-
ister, been strangely moved when dear Dr. Hyde
poured out his heart to God as he prayed at the
family altar. 1 knew him in his church and in the
Fresbyterial meetings. He was a noble man of God.
Under God. his congregation was built up, and he
was a leader among his ministerial brethren. I have
frequently heard Dr. Hyde pray the Lord of the Imr-
vest to thrust out laborer-^ into his harvest. He
would pray this prayer both at the family altar and
from his pulpit. Tt is therefore no strange thing that
God called two of his sons into tlie Gospel ministry,
and one of his daughter.^ for a time Into active
Christian Avork.

A minister once said in my hearing, "My son will
never follow me into the ministry. He knows too
well the treatment a rainiiter receives at the hands of
the people/' Dr. Hyde magnified his office and re-
joiced to give his sonft up to a life of hardship and
trial. Why are there thousands of cliurches in our
country without pastors to-day? A prominent pas-
tor recently said to me : "Our denomination is facing
a tremendous shortage of pastors." Why are the
millions in the foreign field yet waiting for the hu-
man voice to proclaim to them the e^^erlasting Gospel
of the Son of God?

To-day I read in "Far North hi India" the state-
ment by a former missionary in India, Dr. W. B.
Anderson, that a hundred million people in India
to-day have not heard of Jesus Christ, and as things
are now have not the remotest chance to hear about
him. There are other millions in Africa and other

S

countries In the same Christless ignorance. Why Is
it so? Because prayer closets are deserted, family
altars are broken down, and pulpit prayers are for-
mal and dead !

Bible schools and seminaries can never supplj- the
workers needed. My own sainted mother prayed as
a young girl tliat the doors of the heathen countries
might be opened. Afterwards as the mother of ten
children (eii:;ht oi \'.hr>m grew to manhood and
womanhood ), slu- pr.Lved for laborers to enter these
open doors, and Gotl aent one of her sons to India
and two of her daugiiters to China.

Grandmother Lois and mother Eunice prayed, and
when the Great Apostle to the Gentiles was about to
take his departure he could lay his hands on son
Timothy and commission him to ^'Preach the
Word!"

John Hyde was an answer to prayer, and when
in other years he prayed in Indian, God raised up
scores of native workers in answer to his prayers.
The Great Head of the Church has provided one
method for securuig laborers. He said :

^'Look on the fields . . . they are white . . . the
laborers are feu* . . , PRAY!"

Holy Ground

In the Tabernacle of Moses there was one room so
sacred that only one man of all the thousands of Is-
rael was ever permitted to enter it ; and he on one day
only of all the three hundred and sixty-five days of
the year. That room was the Holy of Holies. The
place where John Hyde met God w'as holy ground.
The scenes of his life are too sacred for common
eyes, I shrink from placing them before the public.

[ remember Jacoli at the Brook, Elijah on
Carmel, Paul in his agony for Israel, and especially
the Dear Man in the Garden, then I am impressed
by the Spirit o( God that the experiences of this Man
of God should be published for the learning and
admonition (God grant) of thousands. So we take
our stand near the prayer closet of John Hyde, and
are permitted to hear the sighing and the groaning,
and to see the tears coursil^g down liis dear face, to
see his frame weakened by foo<llcss days and sleep-
less nights, shaken with sobs as he pleads, "0 God,
give me souls or I die !''

Settled

His deeision to go tn the foreign field came about
in this way; his oldest brother, Edmund, was in semi-
narj' preparing to preach, and was also a Student
Volunteer for the foreign field. During Tacation
one summer Edmund was engaged in Sunday-school
mission work in Montana. He contracted the moun-
tain [ever. The doctor advised his speedy return to
his home in Illinois ; so with his railroad ticket and
instructions to the different conductors pinned to the
lapel of his coat, he started. He became delirious
before reaching home, btit arrived safely. After a
few days he passed away. John, who was already
expecting to preach, was deeply impressed by his
brother's death. There would be a break in the ranks
on the foreign field, and he wondered if it were not
God's win for him to step into the gap.

The decision was not finally reached till the next
year, his last in seminary. I..ate one Saturday night
he went to a classmate's room and asked him for all
the arguments he could furnish on the question of

the foreign field. His elassnii^te told liim that it was
not argument he needed ; what he should do was to
go to his room, get on lii.-^ knees before God, and stay
there till the question was settled. The next morn-
ing at Chapel he said to his classmate, *'ft is settled,"
and his shining face was enough to show which way
the decision had been made.

Sailing Day and the Voyage

The mighty deep, the great rolling waves, the days
on days of water, water, only water, the feet lifted
up from of? the dear homeland and not yet planted
on the new homeland — all these furnish suggestion
and opportunity for tliougiuful meditation. To our
John this voyage in the autumn of 1S92 was a time
of heart-searching and prayer. He received a letter
to which he afterwards makes reference in an Indian
publication. He says, '^My father had a friend who
greatly desired to be a foreign missionary, but was
not permitted to go. This man w-rote me a letter
directed in care of the ship. I received it a few
hours out of Kew York harbor. He urged me to
seek for the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the great
qualification for mission work. '\Vhen I had read
the letter I crumpled it up in anger and threw it on
the deck.

Did this friend think that I had not received the
baptism of the Spirit, or that I would think of going
to India without this equipment ? I was angry. But
by and by Iwtter judgment prevailed and I picked up
the letter and read it again. Possibly I did need
something wiiich J had not yet received. The result
was that during the rest of that voyage I gave myself
mucJi to prayer that 1 might indeed be filled with the

Spirit and know by an actual exjierience what Jesus
meant when he said, '*Ye shall receive power, when
the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be
my \vitnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and unto the uttemin^t part of tlie
earth" (Acts i : 8 R. V.). These prayers on ship-
board were finally answered in a marvelous way.

First Years in India

At the first John Hyde was not a remarkable
missionary. He was slow of speech. When a ques-
tion or a remark was directed to him he seemed not
to hear, or it he heard he seemed a long time in fram-
ing a reply. His hearing was slightly defective and
this it was feared would hinder him in acquiring the
language. His disposition was gentle and quiet^ he
seemed to be lacking in the enthusiasm and zeal
which a young niissinnary should have. He had
3 wonderful pair of blue eyes. They seemed to
searcli Into the very depth of ^-^our inmost lieing,
and they seemed also to shine out of the soul of
a prophet.

On arriving in India, he was assigned the usual
language study. At first he went to work on this,
but later neglected it for Bible study. He was rep-
rimanded by the committee, but he replied : *'First
things first." He argued that he had come to India
to teach the Bible, and he needed to know it before
he could teach it. And God by his Spirit wonder-
fully opened up the Scriptures to hitn. Kor did he
neglect language Htu<ly. "He became a correct and
easy speaker in Urdu, Punjabi, and English; but
away and above that, he learned the language of
heaven, and he so learned to speak that he held

audiences of hundreds of Indians spellbound while
he opened to them the truths of Ggd's Word."

The Punjab Prayer-Union

In every revival there is a divine side and a human
side. In the Welsh revival the divine element comes
out proniinendy. Evan Roberts, the leader under
God, seems in a sense to have l>een a passive agent,
mightily moved upon in the night sea.son.s by the
Holy Spirit. There was no organization and very
little preaching — comparatively little of the human
clement. The Sialkot revival, while just as certainly
sent down from heaven, seems not so spontaneous.
There was. under God, organization; there was a
certain amount of definite planning, and there were
staaons of long continued prayer.

Just here as showing where human agency avails
I wish to mention the Punjab Prayer- Union. This
was started about the time (1904), of the first Sial-
kot Convention, The principles of this union are
stated in the form, of questions which were signed
by those iKComing members.

I, "Are you praying for quickening in your own
life, in the life of your fellow- workers, and in the
Church ?

^' V^r^. ^'°" Jang^inS ^or greater power of the
Holy Spirit tu your own life and work, and are you
convinced that yon cannot go on without this power?

.^ "Will you pray that you may not be ashamed
of Jesus?

4. "Do you believe that prayer is the great means
for securing this spiritual awakening?

5. "Will you set apart one-half hour each day as

13

soon after noon as possible to pray for this awaken-
ing, and are you willing to pray liU the awakpning
comes?"

John Kyde was associated with tiiis prayer union
from ils hc^^iniiiiip^ and also had a definite part in the
Siall^ot t^oin'ention. The niemljers of the prayer
union lifted up their eyes according to Christ's com-
mand and saw tht fields, — while to the' lian^est. In
the Book they read the immutable promises of God.
They saw the one method o[ obtaining this spiritual
awakening, even by prayer. They set themselves
delil>erately. definitely, and desjjerately to use the
means till they secured the result. The Sialkot re-
vival was not an accident nor an unsought breeJ:e
from heaven. Charles G. Finney says : "A revival is
no more a miracle than a crop of wheat." In any
community revival can be secured from heaven when
heroic souls enter the conflict determined to win or
die — or if neetl be to win and die ! — '*The kingdom
of heaven snffereth violence, and the violent take
it by force" (Matt, ii : 12).

Three Men

David's mighty men are catalogued in the Scrip-
tures ; there were the first three, tlien the second
three, and afterwards the thirty; Jesus had many
unnamed disciples. He had the Twelve, hut in the
inner circle nearest to himself were the special three :
Peter, James and John. Hundreds came to Sialkot
and helped mightily by prayer and praise. But God
honored a few men as leaders. This sketch is not
given to flattery or fulsome praise, hut God's Word
says, "Honor to whom honor is due," God laid a
great burden of prayer upon the heart of John N.

Hyde, R. McCheyne Paterson, and George Turner
for this wonderful convention. There was need for
a yearly meeting for Bible study and prayer, where
the spiritual life of the workers — pastors, teachers,
and evangelists, both foreign and native, — could be
deepened. The cburch-hfc in (he Punjab (as indeed
in all India) was far below the Bible standard; tlie
Holy Spirit was so little honored in these ministries
that few were being saved from among the Christ-
less millions. Sialkot was the place selected for this
meeting and 1904 became memorable as the date of
the First Sialkot Convention.

Before one of the first conventions Hyde and
Paterson waited and tarried one whole month before
the opening day. For thirty days and thirty nights
these godly men waited before God in prayer. ^ Do
we wonder that there was power in the convention?
Turner joined them after nine days, so that for
twenty-one days and twenty-one nights these three
men prayed and praised (Jod for a mighty outpouring
of his power ! Three human hearts that beat as one
and that One the heart of Christ yearning, pleading,
crying, and agonizing over the church of India and
the myriads of lost souls. Three renewed human
wills that by faith linked themselves as with hooks
of steel to the omnipotent will of God. Three pairs
of fire-touched lips that out of believing hearts
shouted, "It shall be done!"

Do you who read these words look at those long-
continued vigils, those days of fasting and prayer,
tliDse nights of wakeful watching and intercessions,
and do you say; "What a price to pay!" Then I
point you to scores and hundreds of workers quick-
ened and fitted for the service of Christ ; I point you
to literally thousands prayed into the kingdom and

15

I say unto you, "Behold, the purchase of such a
price!"

Surely Calvary represents a iearful price. But
your soul and mine and the miUions thus far re-
deemed and otiier niillbiis yet to be redeemed, a
wrecked earth restored back to Eden perfection, the
kingdoms of this world wrested from the grasp of
the usurper and delivered over to the reign of their
rightful King ! — when wc shall see ail this shall we
not gladly say, "Behold the purchase !"

1904 — The First Sialkot Convention

One of his dearest friends in India writes alx)ut
the great chanije that came to John Hyde's spiritual
life at this cmlveiuion in 1904. He writes that
though John was a missionary and a child of God,
for he had been born of God, he was yet a babe in
Christ. He had never teen compelled to tarry at his
Jerusalem till he was endued with power from on
high. But God in Iiis love S]ioke to him and showed
him his great need. At this convention, while lie was
speaking to his brother missionaries on the work of
the Holy Spirit, God spoke to his own soul and
opened up to him the divine plan of sanctification by
faith. Such a touch of God, such a light from
heaven came to him, that he said at the close of the
convention: "I must not lose this vision." And he
never did lose it, but rather obtained grace for grace,
and the vision briglrtened as he went oljediently
forward.

Another missionary tells how John came to this

convention to lead the Bible studies. During those

days he spoke im the length and breadth and height

and depth of the love of God. That mighty love

16

seemed to reach out through him and grip the hearts
of men and women and draw them closer to God.
This brother writes :

"One night he came into my .study about half-past
nine and began to talk to me about the value of public
testimony. Wc had an earnest discussion until long-
after midnight and 1 Cliink until after one o'clock,
and as I remember it, quite an interesting argument.

"We had asked him on the next evening to lead
a meeting for men which was being held in the taber-
nacle out on the compound, while the women of the
convention were holding a meeting of their own in
the missionary bungalow.

"When the time for the meeting arrived the men
of us were seated there on the mats in the tent, but
Mr. Hyde the leader had not arrived. We tegan to
-sing, and sang several numbers Ijiefore he did come
in, quite late.

'T remember how he sat dotvn on the mat in front
of us, and sat silently for a considerable time after
the singing stopped. Then he arose and said to us
very quietly, "Brothers, I did not sleep any last night
and I have not eaten anything to-day. I have been
having a great controversy with God. I feel that he
has wanted me to come here and testify to you con-
cerning some things that he has done for me, and I
have been arguing with him that I should not do
this. Only this evening a little while ago have I got
peace concerning the matter and have I agreed to
obey him, and now I have come to tell you just some
things tltat he has done for me."

"After making this brief statement, he told us
very quietly and simply .some of the desperate con-
flicts that he had had Avith sin and how God had
given hun victory. I think he did not talk more than

17

fifteen or twenty minutes and then sat down and
ixjwed liis head for a few minutes, and then said, 'Let
U5 have a season of prayer.' I rememlici liow tile
little company prostrated themselves upon the mats
on their faces in the Oriental manner, and then how
for a long time, how long I do not know, man after
man rose to his feet to pray, liow there was such
confession of sin as most of ns had never heard he-
fore and such crying out to God for mercy and help,

"It was very late that niglil ivhen the httle gather-
ing broke up and some of us know {iefinitely of sev-
eral lives that were wholly transformed through the
influence of that meeting."

Evidently that one message opened the doors of
men's hearts for the incoming of the great revival
in the Indian Church.

1905 Convention —
*^ Brokenheartedness for Sin"

In the spring of each year the Punjab Prayer-
Union holds its annual meeting. But as preparation
for this meeting the leaders spend much time in
prayers and fastings and all night watching. Then
wiien the Union comes together we look to God for
guidance during tlie coming year. "Early in 1905,
at that annual meeting, God laid on our hearts'"
vvrites a brother, "the burden of a world plunged in
sin. We were permitted to share to some extent in
the suiTerings of Christ. . It was a glorious pre-
paration for the convention in the fall of 1905."

At this convention John Hyde was constantly m
the prayer room day and night ; he Hved there as on
the Mount of Transfiguration. The words were
burned into his brain as a command from God:

"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
whicli shall never hold their peace day nor night :
ye that are the Lord's remembrancers take ye no rest
and give him no rest till he establish, and till he make
Jeru.saleui a praise in the earth" (Isa. 62 :6, 7).

Tliere can be 110 doubt that he was sustauied by
divine .strength, for are we not told to "endure hard-
ness according to the power of God," — not in our
own weakness but in his strength? It was not tlie
quantity but the quality of sweet childlike sleep that
our Father gave his servant which enabled him to
continue so long watching unto prayer. One could
see from his face that it was the presence of Christ
himself that strengthened hi.^ weak body. John Hyde
was the principal s]ieaker, but it was from com-
munion with God that he derived his power.

His prayer-life was one of absolute obedience to
God. I remember once the hmch-l5ell sounded when
we were in the prayer looni. I heard him whisper:
"Father, is it thy will that I go?" . . . There was
a pause, the answer came, he said : "Thank you.
Father," and rose with a smile and went to lunch.
Needless to say, he recognized his Lord as seated at
the table with them, and oh, how many hungry souls
were refreshed by his talk.'i.

He was leader of the morning Bible readings, his
subject being John 15 : 26, 27, "He shall bear wit-
ness of me, and ye also shall Iiear wntness of tne."
"Is the Holy Spirit firsr in vour pulpits, pastors?"
Do you consciously put him in front and keep your-
selves behind him, when preaching? Teachers, when
you arc asked hard questions do you ask his aid as
a witness of all Christ's life? He alone was a wit-
ness of the incarnation, the miracles, the death and
the resurrection of Christ. So he is the only wit-

19

^

ness 1" It was a heart-searching message, and many
were bowed down imder the convicting power. Tlie
next morning Mr. Hyde was not allowed to give
any further teaching. The chairman came down
from his seat and declared the meeting to be in the
liands of God's Spirit. How wonderfully He wit-
nessed of Christ and his power to cleanse all who
repent. The next morning once again his servant
said that he had no fresh message from God. It was
pointed out that God would not he mocked — ^tiU we
had all learned this lesson as to putting the Holy
Spirit first at all times God would not give any fresh
message. Who can forget that day ? How w-onder-
fully those prayers were answered ! The watchmen
that night in the prayer room were filled with joy
unspeakable and they ushered in the dawn with
shouts of triumph. And why not, for we are "more
than conquerors through him who loves us."

At one time John Hyde was told to do something
and he ivcnt and olxycd, but returned to the prayer
room weeping, confessing that he had obeyed God
unwillingly. '*Pray for me, brethren, that I may do
this joyfully." We soon learned after he went out
that he had been led to obey triumphantly. Then he
received the promise that he would Ik the (spiritual)
father of many children — an Abraham indeed. He
entered the hall with great joy, and as he came before
the people, after having obeyed God, he spoke three
wordii in Urdu and three in English, repeating them
three times, "Ai Asmaiii Bak," "O Heavenly
Father." What followed who can describe ? It was
a;? if a great ocean came sweeping into that assembly,
and "suddenly there came a .sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting." Hearts w^re bowed before

that divine presence as the trees of the wood before
a mighty tempest. It was the ocean of God's love
ijeing outpoured tlirough one man's obedience.
Hearts were broken tefore it. There were con-
fessions of sins with tears that were soon changed
to joy and then to shouts of rejoicing. Truly,
we were filled with new wine — the new wine of
Heaven!

Here is the experience of one missionary; "Hours
alone with God, with no one to see or Ivcar but God
were customary; but the fellowship of others in
prayer or praise, for hours, could it be downright
real ? On entering that room the problem was solved.
At once you knew you were in the holy presence of
God, where there could Ije only awful reality. Others
in the room Avere forgotten except when the comhined
prayers and praises made you realize the strength
and power and sympathy of such fellowship. The
hours of waiting on God in communion with others
were precious times, when together we waited on
God to search us and to speak to us, together inter-
ceded for others, together praised him for himself
and for his wonderworking power. There was a
breadth and freedom during tho.se ten days that I
never imagined existed on earth. Surely it was for
freedom such as this that Christ has set us free.
Each one did exactly as he or she felt led to do.
Some went to bed early, some prayed for hours, some
prayed all night long, some went to the meetiiigs and
some to the prayer room and some to their own
rooms ; some prayed, some praised, some sat to pray,
some kneeled, some lay prostrate on their faces be-
fore God, just as the Spirit of God bade them. There
ivas no criticism, no judging of what was being done
or said. Each one realized tliat all superficialities

were put away, that each one was Jn the awful pre-
sence of the Holy Cod."

The same missionary referred to John Hyde wlien
she wrote, "There were some who knew that God
had chosen and ordained them to be 'watchmen,'
There ^vere some who had hved for long so near
Jehovah that tliey heard his voice and received orders
direct from him about everything, even as to when
they were to watch and pray and when they were to
sleep. Some watched all night long for nights be-
cause God told them to do so, and he kept sleep from
them that they might have the priviJeg'e and hmior
of watching with him over the affairs of his king-
dom."

igo6— The Lamb on His Throne

Again at this convention in answer to prayer God
poured out on us by his Sjjirit a burden for lost soiils.
We saw the same "brokenlieartedness" for the sm?
of others. None felt this more than John Hyde.
God was deepening^ his prayer-h it. He was permitted
of God. to have the privilege of drinking of the
Master's cup and of being l>aptized with his bap-
tism — the second baptism of fire, suffering with him
that we may reign witli him here and now, the life
of true Kings for the sake of others.

About this time John Hyde began to have visions
of the glorified Christ as a Lamb on his throne-
suffering such infmili' pain for and with his suffering
Body on earth, as it is i^o often revealed hi God's
Word, As the Divine Head, he is the nerve center
of all the body. He is indeed living to-day a life of
intercession for us. Prayer for others is as it were
the very breath of oiir Lord's life in heaven. *'He
ever Uveth to make inter cession for us." It was be-

coming increasingly true of John Hyde. How often
m the prayer rooni he would break o^it into tcar^
over the shis of the world, and especially of God's
cliildren. Even then his tears would lie changed
into shouts of praise according to the divine promise
repeated by our Lord on that last nig^ht when he
talked freely with his own. "Ye shall be sorrowful,
but your sorrow shall be turned into joy" (John
r6 -.20-22).

A brother writes about the Convention of tqo5,
"Thank God, he has heard our prayers and poured
out the Spirit of Grace and intercession upon so many
of his children. For example I saw a Punjabi bro-
ther convulsed and sobbing as if liis heart would
break. ] went up to him and put my arms about him
and said, 'The blood oi Jesus Christ clcanseth us
from all sin.' A smile lit up his face. 'Thank God,
Sahib.' he cried, 'but oh, what an awful vision T have
liad! Thousands of souls in this land of India being
carried away by the dark river of sin! They are in
hell now. Oh, fo snatch them from the fire before
it is too late!' "

See another example of how this agony of soul
in John Hyde was reflected in one who was a daugh-
ter in Christ to him. An Indian Christian girl was at
this convention. Her father had compelled her to
neglect Clirist's claims upon her. In the prayer room
she waA convicted of her shi and told how her heart
wa.s being torn away from her father to Christ. One
could almost see the springing tendrils of her heart
as the power of the love of Christ came upon her.
It was a terrilile time. Then she asked us to pray
for her father. We l^egan to pray and suddenly the
great burden for that soul was cast upon us. and the
room was filled with sobs and cries for one whom

33

most of us had never seen or heard of he tore. Strong
men lay on the ground groaning in agony for that
soul. There was not a dry eye in that place until
at last God gave us the assurance tliat prayer had
been heard and out of Gethsemane we came into the
Pentecostal joy of being able to praise him that lie
heard our cry,

"That meeting was one," writes this brother, ''that
will never leave ray memory. It went on ah night.
It was a time when God's power was felt as I never
had felt it before."

This brother continues, "God wants those who
are willing to bear the burden of the souls of these
millions witliont God to go with Jesus uito Gethse-
mane, He wants us to do thi.5. It is a blessed ex-
perience to feel that in some measure we can enter
into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. It brings
ns into a precious nearness to the Son of God. And
not only this, hut it is God's appointed way of bring-
ing the lost sheep back to the fold. He is saying,
'Who will go for us, and whom shall I send?' Are
you who read these words willing to Ik intercessors ,'
If we are wiUing to put ourselves into God's hands,
then God is willing to use us. But there are two
conditions: obedience and purity. Obedience in
everything, even in the least, surrendering up our
wills and taking the will of God. And the next step
is purity. God wonts pure vessels for his service,
clean channels tlirough which to pour forth his grace.
He wants purity in the very center of the soul, and
unless God can have a pure vessel, purified by the
fire of the Holy Spirit, he cannot use that vessel.
He is asking you now if you will let him cleanse
away part of your very life. God must have a
vessel he can use !

24

1907 — Holy Laughter

In the summer of 1907 John went to a friend's
house for a holiday. It was in the M— Hills. The
friend whites about it thus: "The crowning act of
God's love to tis personally was the wonderful way
in which he hrouglit Mr. Hyde up to stay with us.
I also had to come up to do duty among some Engli-sh
troops here. So Hyde and I have been having
glorious times together. There were seasons of great
conflict and at times I thought Hyde would break
down completely. But after all nights of prayer and
praise he would appear fresh and smiling in the
morning. God has lieeu teaching us wonderful les-
sons when he calls us to seasons of such wrestling.
It is that command in 2 Timothy i : 8, "Suffer hard-
ship with the gospel according to the power of God."
So that we have the power of God to draw upon for
all our need. Ever since Mr. Hyde realized this he
says he has scarcely ever felt tired, though he has
had at times little sleep for weclcs. No man need
ever break down through overstrain in this ministry
of intercession."

"Another element of power : 'The joy of the Lord
is your strength.' Ah G — , a poor Punjabi brother
of low caste origin, has been used of God to teach
us all how to make such times of prayer a very
heaven upon earth, how to prevent the pleasure of
praying and even of wrestling ever descending into
a toil. How often has G' — after most awful crying
seemed to lareak through the hosts of evil and soar
up into the pre,sence of the Father ! You could see
the smile of God reflected in his face. Then he would
laugh aloud in the midst of his prayer. It was the
joy of a son revelling in the delight of his Father's

25

r

smile. God has Ixen teaching John and me that his
mme is the God of Isaac — laughter. Have you ob-
served that picture of heaven in Proverbs S ; 30?
'1 was daily in his delight.' This is the Father's love
being showered upon his own Son. No wonder that
in such a home the Son should say that he was 'al-
ways rejoicing before him." 'Rejoicing.' laughing,
the same word as Isaac. This holy laughter seemed to
relieve the tension and give heaven's own refresh-
ment to wrestling spirits.

"I must tell you of dear Hyde's last me.^sage l^e-
fore he returned to Ludhiana. It was a special re-
velation to Paui. and one which the Spirit forced
him to give out to the Romans, that he had unceasing
pain, for he could wish that he himself were una-
theina from Christ for his kinsmen according to the
tiesh (Rom. 9 : 1-3), Snrcly this was more than
Paul's love for Christ. When he could wish that he
should be what Christ had become for ns — a curse 1
Fancy having to give np all hope in Christ ! Fancy go-
ing back to the old sins and their domination over us 1
The thought is unljearable ! Yet such was the divine
pity in Paul's heart that he was willing to ht ana-
thema from Christ, if it were possible in this way
to .save his kinsmen the Jews. Such in a few words
was God's message by his messenger, John Hyde.
How we all broke down ! ,^1, GnSs love was indeed
shed abroad in the hearts of those present. All tliis
was leading to the great crisis in John Hyde's prayer-
life, which I had the privilege of seeing."

Summer — 1908

"This summer we persuaded him to come np to
the HiJls with us. His room was a separate one upon
26

the hill and to one side of our house. Here he came,
but came for a very real intercession with his Master.
This intercession vvas fraught with mighty issues
for the kingdom of God amongst us. It was evident
to all that he was bowed down with sore travail of
soul. Fie missed many meals, and when I went to
his room 1 would find him lying as in great agoity,
or walking up and down as if an inward fire were
burning in his hones. And so there was that lire
of which our Lord spoke when he said : 'I came to
cast fire upon the earth, and how would I that it were
already kindled! But I have a baptism to Ik bap-
tized with, and how I am straitened till it be accom-
plished.' John did not fast in the ordinary sense of
the word, yet often at that time when I begged him
to come for a meal he would look at me and smile
and s,ay. T am not hungry.' No! there was a far
greater hunger eating up his very soul, and prayer
alone could satisfy that. Before the spiritual hunger
the. physical disappeared. He had heard our Lord's
voice saying to him ; 'Abide ye here and watch with
ME." So he abode there with his Lord, who gave
him the privilege of entering Gethsemane with him-
self.

One thought was constantly uppermost in his
mind, that our Lord still agonizes for souls. Many
times he used to quote from the Okl and New Tes-
taments, especially as to the privilege of 'filling up
that which was lacking of the afflictions of Christ.'
He would speak of the vow made by our Lord de-
voting a long drawn out travail of soul till all his
own were safely folded. 'For I say tmto you that I
shall not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine
till that day when I drink it new with you in my
Father's kingdom.' 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest

27

thott Me?' These were some of the verses itsed of
God to op^n his eyes to the fellowship of Christ's
sufferings. Tiiesc were days when the clouds were
often pierced and the glorified Hie that our Lord now
leads shone tlirough, revealing many mysteries of
travail and pain. It was trul\- a following of him
who is the Lamb, suffering still n'l'th us as he oiicc
did for us on earth, though now himself on the
throne. John liyde found that he still carries our
crosses — the h£2.vy end of our crosses, 'tor he ever
liveth to make intercession for us.'

"It was Into the hfe of prayer and watching and
agonizing for others that he was being led step by
step. All tills time, though he ate little and slept less,
he was hright and cheerful. Our children had ever
been a great joy to him. Uncle Jolm, who had so
often played with them, wa.s always wtlconied with
smiles of love. Yet now, even the little ones ap-
peared to realize that this was no tune for play I
They were wonderfully subdued and qnitt in hh
presence in those days, for there wns a li.Sflit r:"n hi^
face that told of coniinuihtjn with another woHd.
Yet there was nothing of the licrmit about him^ —
in fact people were more tlian ever attracted to him,
and freely asked for his prayers. He alw-ays had
leisure to speak to them of spiritual things, and en-
tered even more patienth' than ever into their trials
and disappointments. We -will not speak in detail
of tliose days of watching^ and praying and fasting
when he appeared to enter into our Lord's great
yearning for hh sheep. We feared his poor weak
body would sink under the strain; but how marveh
ousiy he was sustained all the time ! At times that
agony was dunib. at times it ^vas a crying out for
the millions perishing before our eyes ; yet it was

2S

always lit up with hope. Hope in the love of God — -
Hope in the God of Love."

With all that depth of love \vhich he seemed to
be sounding with his Lord, there were glimpses of
its heights — moments of Iieaven upon earth, when
his .soul wai> flooded with songs of praise, and he
would enter into the joy of his Lord. Then lie would
break into song but they were always "Songs in the
night." In those days he never seemed to lose sight
of those thousands in his own district without God
and without hope m the "workL How he pleaded
for them with sobs— dry choking sobs, that showed
how the depths of his sonl were being stirred,
"l''ather, give mc these souls or I die!" was the
burden of his prayers. His own prayer tliat he
nii^ht rather burn out than rust out was already
being answered.

Let me introduce here a gem from the pen of
Paterson: "What wiui the secret of that prayer-life
of John Hyde'.-.?" he a,iks. This, that it was a Ufe
of prayer. Who is the source of all life? The
glorified Jesus. How do I get this Hfe from him?
Just as I receive his rigiiteousness to begin with.
I own that I have no righteousness of my own —
only filthy rags and I in faith claim his righteousness.
Now, a tW'Ofold residt follows :■ — As to our h'ather
in heaven, He sees Christ's righteousness — not my
unrighteousness. A second result as to ourselves :
Christ's righteousness not merely clothes us out-
wardly, but enters into our very l>eing, by his Spirit,
received in faith as with the disciples (see John
20 : 22) and works out sane tificat ion in us.

^V'hy not the same with our prayer life? Let us
rcmenil>er the word ''for,'' "Christ died for us,"
and "He ever liveth to make intercession 'for' us/'
29

tliat is, ill our room and stead. So I confess my ever
failing prayers (.it dare not be called a life), and
plead his never failing intercession. Then it affects
our rather, for lie looks upon Christ's prayer-Ufe in
us, and answers accordingly. So that the answer is
far "above all we can ask or think." Another great
result [ollows: it affects us. Christ's prayer life
enters into ns and he prays hi tis. This is prayer in
tlie Holy Spirit. Only thus can we pray without
ceasing. This is the life more aliundant which our
Lord gives. Oh, what peace, M'liat comfort! No
more working up a life of prayer and failing con-
stantly. Jesus enters the lioat and the toiling ceases,
and we are at the laud whither we would be. Now,
we need to Ik still before him, so as to hear his voice
and allow him to pray in ns — nay, allow him to pour
into our souls his overfiowinE life of intercession,
wdiich means literally: face to face meeUng with
God — real usiox and communion."

1908 Convention— One Soul a Day

It was about this time that Jolm Hyde laid hold
of God in a very definite covenant. This was for
one soul a day — not less, not enquirers simply but
a soul saved — ready to confess Clirisl in public and
lie baptized in his name. Then the stress and strain
was relieved. His heart Avas filled with the peace of
full assurance. All who spoke to him perceived a
new life and a new life-work which this life can
never end.

He returned to his district with this confidence
nor was he disappointed. It meant long jouriiej's,
nights of watching unto prayer and fasting, pain and
conflict, yet victory always crowning this. What

30

though the dews chilled him by night and the drought
exhausted him by day ? His sheep were being gath-
ered into the fold and the Good Slieplierd was seeing
of the travail of his soul and being satisfied. By
the end of that year more tlian four liundred were
gathered in.

Was he satisfied? Far from it. How could he
possibly he so long as his Lord was not ? How could
our Lord he satisfied, so long as one single sheep was
yet outside his fold? Tint John Hyde w-as learning
the secret of Divine Strength: "The joy of the
Lord.'" For, after all, the greater our capacity
for joy the greater our capacity also for sor-
row. Thus it was with the Man of Sorrows, he
who could say: "These words have 1 spoken unto
yon that my joy may be in you and that your joy
may Ije full."

John Hyde seemed always to be hearing the Good
Shepherd's voice saying, "Other sheep I have — other
sheep T have." No matter if he won the one a day
or two a day or four a day, he had an unsatisfied
longuig, an undying passion for lost souls. Here is
a picture given by one of his friends in India : "As
a personal worker he would engage a man in a talk
aliout his salvation. By and by he would have his
hands on the man's shoulders looking him very ear-
nestly in the eye. Soon he would get the man on bis
knees confessing his sins and seeking salvation. Such
a one he would baptize in" the village, by the road-
side, or anywhere."

I once attended one of his conventions for Chris-
tians. He would meet his converts as they came in
and embrace them in Oriental style, laying his hand
first on one shoulder and then on the other. Indeed,
his embraces were so loving that he got nearly all

3«

to give like eraliraces to CIiTistiaiis and fliose too
of the lowest caste.

This was his strong point. Love won him vie-
tories,

igog Convention — Two Souls a Day

Again John Hyde laid hold of God with a definite
and importunate request. This time it was for two
souls a day. At this convention God used him even
more mightily than eA'er before. God spoke through
his servant Jolin Hyde.

We speak with bated breath of the most sarred
lesson o( all — g-hmpses that he gave us into Ihi ili-
vine heart of Christ broken for our sins. 11 e i li.l nut
overwhelm us with this sight all at once, He re-
vealed these glimpses gently and lovingly according
to our ability to endvire it. Ah, who can forget liow
he showed us his great heart of love pierced by that
awful sorrow at the wickedness of the whole world,
"which grieved him at his heart."

Deeper and deeper we were allowed to enter into
the agony of God's soul, till like the prophet of sor-
row, Jeremiah, we heard his anguish, desiring that
his eye.'; might become a fountain of tears, that he
might weep day and night for the slain of the daugh-
ter of his people. There the divine longing was rea-
lized in Gethscniane and Calvary ! We were led to
see the awful suffering of the Son of God, and the
still more awful suffering of the Father and of the
Eternal Spirit, through whom He offered up himself
without spot unto God.

How can we enter into the fellowship of such
sufferings? "Ask, and it shall lie given you, seek
and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto
32

you.*' Observe the progress in intensified desire, —
great, greater, greatest, and the corresponding re-
ward till, to crown it all, the Father's heart is thrown
open to us. Yes, to all and sundry we tell our joys ;
it is the privileged few very near our he.irts to whom
we tell our sf.jrrows! So it is with the love of God,
It was to John the 1 icioved as lie lay clo^c to the heait
of the Master, and then drew closer still, that Jesus
revealed the awful anguish that was breaking his
heart, that one of them shoirtd Ijetray him. The
closer we draw to his heart, the more we shall share
his sorrows. All this we obtain only by faith. It is
not our broken heart, it is God's we need, It is not
our sufferings, it is Christ's we are partakers of. It
is not our tears with which we should admonish
night and day — it is all Christ's. The fellowship of
his sufferings is his free gift — free for the taking
in simple faith, never minding onr feelings.

"Lord, give me Thy heart of love for sinners, Thy
broken heart for their sins. Thy tears wdth which
to admoniiih night and daj, " cried a dear child of
God at the end of this convention. Then he went or :
"But, O Lord, I feel so cold, ily heart is so hard
and dead. I am so lukewarm!" A friend had to
interrupt him. "Why are you looking down at your
poor self, brother ? Of course your heart is cold and
dead. But you have asked for the broken heart of
Jesus, his love, his burden for sin, his tears. Is he
a liar ? Has he not given what you asked for ? Then
why look away from his heart to your own?"

John used to ?ay, "When we keep near to Jesus
it is he who draws souls to himself through us, but
he ronst be lifted up in our lives ; that is, we must be
crucified with him. It is 'self in some shape that
comes between us and him, so self must be dealt with

33

r

as he was dealt with. Self must be crucified, dead
and buried xvith Christ, If not 'buried' liie slench
of the old man will frighten souls away, jf (Iksc
three sUps doumwanh are taken as to the yld man,
then tlie new ram will be revived, raised^ and seated
■ — the corrcspondiny steps upzvard which God permits
us to take, Then indeed Christ is lifted up in our
live-s and he cannot fail to attract souls to himself.
All this i.s the result of a close unioti and communion,
that is 'fellowship' with him in his .sufferings!"

igio Convention — Four Souls a Day

The eight hundred souls gatherecl in since ^ast
year's convention did not satisfy John Hyde. God
was enlarging his heart wilh his love. Once again
he laid hold on God with holy desperation, How
many weeks it was T do not remember, but he went
dee]icr still with Christ into the sliadows of Ihc
Garden 1 Praying took the form n.ow of cnnfLssinj^
the sins of others and taking' the place of those sin-
ners, as so many of the pro[)hets did in old time.
He was bearing the sins of others alone with his Lord
and Master, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ."' According to that law we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, This,
John Hyde was doing. I^e was "dying daily."

What was that burden referred to in Galatians 6 ;
2 ? The previous verse reveals it. It was bearing the
sins of others. He at length got the assurance of
four ,wids (I day.

Yet this was the year that God used him all over
India. He was called to help in revivals and con-
ferences in Calcutta, Bombay, and many of the larger
cities. Surely he was being prepared for an; eternity-

34

wide mission. Yet he "was never more misjudged
and misunderstood. But tliat too was part cf the
fellowship of Christ's pain. '*He came unto his own,
and his own received him not.''

We who were &o privileged saw in John Hyile's
lif^ the deepening horror of sin during that year of
19TO, though it was all but a pale reflection of the
awful anguish over sin tliat at length broVe our
Saviour's heart. Before this year's convention he
spent long nights in prayer to God. This burden
had lain now for five years on liis heart — each year
pressing heavier and heavier. How it had eaten into
his very soul! One saw the long sleepless nights
and weary days of watching with prayer written
on every feature of his face. Vet his figure was
almost transformed as he gave forth God's own
words to his people with such fire and such force
that many hardly recognized the changed man with
the glory of God lighting up every feature. It was
Jehovah's messenger speaking Jehovah's message,
and we who had shared some of its burden in prayer
knew that it was God's own burden spoken to his
Church in India — yeSt to his Church throttghout the
whole -world.

We were transported to Mount Sinai and to the
sin of Israel in worshiping flic golden calf. Up till
that time Moses had not interceded for tiod's people.
Why? Because he had not yet entered into the sul-
ferhigs of God's heart over sin. So he is sent down
among the sinners. Sin cost him tJie presence of
God. Was he not being made a partaker of tlie suf-
ferings of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world? Then he fasts a second forty days and
forty nights (Dent, 9 : 19), "For I was afraid
of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith Jehovah

35

was wroth against you to destroy you. But Jehovah
hearkened unto me that time also." Moses reports
this in 9 : 25, douUly emphasized by the Holy Spirit.
Surely the Great White Throne in its awtul purity
shone amorri; us from that time right on through
the eonvention— no wonder we were filled with
shame and con Fusion of face as were so many of
God's Intercessors of old — Moses. Jol), Ezra, Nehe-
miah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. When
God said to Moses, "Ul me alone," he revealed the
power of intercession. No! Moses "stood in tht
breach," and the wrath of God was stayed He gave
up the honor and glory of his own name and family
for the sake of God's' people. "The Church in the
wilderness" was saved hy one who shadowed forth
our Great Divine Intercessor and partook of his
Spirit.

The confession of the sins of others laid hold of
John Hyde's heart. It was ahout that time he was
tauglit a very solemn lesson — ^tlie sin of fault-finding
even in prayer for others. He was once weighed
down with the burden of prayer for a certahi Indian
pastor. So he retired to his "inner chamber," and
thinking of the pastor's coldness and the consequent
deadness of his church, he liegan to pray: "O
Father, thou knowest how cold" — ^lie was going to
say; hut a finger seemed to Ik laid on his lips, ."io
that the word was not uttered and a voice said in his
ear, "He that touchelh him toucheth the apple of
mine eye." Mr. Hyde cried out in sorrow; "For-
give me, Father, in that I have been an accuser of
the brethren he fore thee !" He realized that in God's
sight he must look at "Whatsoever things are love-
ly." Yet he wanted also to look at "Whatsoever
things are tme." He was shown that the "true" of

3S

this verse are limited to what are both lovely and
true, Uiat the sin of God's children is fleeting, it is
not tl:e true nature of God's children. For wc should
see them as tliey are in Christ Jesus — "complete,"
what tliey shall be when he has finished the good
work he has begun in them. "And it is right for
rae to be thus minded concerning you all, because
/ have you in my heart." Then John asked tlie
Father to show him all that was to be praised ("if
there be any A'irtue and if there be any praise take
account of these things") in that pastor's hfe. He
was reminded of much for which he could heartdy
thank God, and s[)ent his lime in praise ! This was
tlie way to victory. The result? He shortly after-
wards heard that the pastor ha<l at that very time
received a great reviving and was preaching with
fire. It is this way of praise which is appointed of
God for preparing the I5ride and the patting on her
beautiful garments. In Revelation 19:6-8 it is
praise that leads to the glorious results.

I remember John telling me that in those days if
on any day four souls were not brought into the
fold, at night there woukl Ik such a weight on his
heart that it was positively painful, and he could not
eat nor sleep. Then in prayer he would ask his Lord
to sliow him wliat was the obstacle in him to this
blessing. He invariably found that it was the want
of praise in his life. This command, which has been
repeated in God's Word hundreds of times — .surely
it is oil important! He would then confess his sin,
and accept the forgiveness by the Blood. Then he
would ask for the spirit of praise as for any other
gift of God. So he would exchange his ashes for
Christ's garland, his mourning for Christ's oil of
joy, his spirit of heaviness for Christ's garaient of

37

praise (the Song of the Lamlj — praising God be-
forehand for wlxat he was going to do), and as he
praised God souls would come to him, and the num-
bers lacking would be made up.

Here is a picture of his work in those days : Tvta
evangelists went out with Mr. Hyde to a distant
village ; before leaA^ng they were assured of ten souis
being won for Christ. They reached the village,
they preached, they sang, the day wore on, not a
sign of any soul being interested. They became
hungry and thirsty. No man gave unto them.
The evangelists became impatient to get home for
rest and food. John Hyde Avould not move. He
was waiting for those ten soub. At last, at a com-
mon cottage they asked for a drink of water. The
man offered them milk, too, They went into his
humble home and were refreshed. As they talked
to him, he showed a most intelligent knowledge of
Jesus Christ. Yes, he had entertained them in his
name. Would the family not become his follow-
ers? Why not now? He agreed, and called his
wife and children. They certainly realized what they
were doing, antl were determined as a family to
come out on the Lord's side. One can picture how
tenderly John Hyde ushered them into the family
of Gnd. A'lne in all were baptized.

But it was now growing dark% and a dangerous
road lay ahead of them. The evangelists made
haste. The father l)egan to urge it, too. Unwill-
ingly John Hyde left that house, The cart was sei^t
for by one, and the other tried to hasten John's
steps. Then they wanted to lift him into the cart.
But no — -his eyes rested pleadingly on one of his
men : "fVhuf about that one that Li zvanting?" The
evangelist (he told me this with a hot fiush of

38

shame) lost his temper. It is all very well for tlie
Sahib if he broke his neck; he had no wife or family
to tliink of. But it was a very different story for
tlieni both. Jiut John stood there waiting for that
one soyl, — -tlie tenth was yet wanting. He kiiew the
Good Shepherd was himself searching for tliat one,
and would search "until he find it," The two evau
gelists used almost force to get him to move. There
burst one cry from his lips : "What about that
one?" By and by the father of the family came up.
Why was the Padre Sahib waiting? John told him
of the one not yet in the fold. ""Why, there he isl-'
cried the man. 'Tie has jnst come bach. My
nephew, whom I liave adopted," He brought the
boy forward. Mr. Hyde went l?ack to the house
and asked him of his faith in Christ He was clear
and intelh'gent. So the tenth was gathered into the
fold. He gave a sigh of heart's ease and weary con-
tent as he climljed into the cart. Of course, they
were kept and reached home safely — with a heart
full of rest -such as the Good Shepherd gives his
faithful under-shepherds. Yes, and that is the rest
of the sonl they give him^ for through such he shall
yet see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.

And now, farewell to Sialkot! As far as this
sketch i.s concerned, we are leaving those hallowed
scenes. Others there are who will assemble on
those holy grounds ; others care for the great com-
pany that annually assemliles in those audiences ;
others will keep watch in the prayer-Toom; but as
for our dear brother Hyde, igTO was his last year at
Sialkot. We may wonder why it should be so.
Only forty-seven, surelv his taking away seemed
untimely. But God in heaven Imnw=; how wonder-
fully rounded out were the years of dear John Hyde.

39

Seven Sialkot conventions, and seven wonderful
years of prayer. Surely God Kaw in John Hyde 3.
well rounded out experience and cimracter. Surely
God and the recording angel know tllat the fruitage
will be bcuutilul at the ingathering; at the great har-
vest home. ''He that soweth bountifully shall also
reap bountifully."

But before we leave Sialkot I am led to record my
appreciation of our brother, McCheyne Paterson.
Paterson, I have fallen in love with you in the Lord.
Because you loved Ilydc I love yon. Often, dear
brother, 1 have prayed for you, and shall yet pray.
And will not all who read this sketch join me in
praying for the convention at Sialkot, and for this
jirccions man of God, still praying and preaching
and praising there ?

Calcutta and the Doctor

John Hyde was only one of many men w'ho have
hazarded life for God's service. Nehetniah was
warned of the plotting of Sanballat and Tobiah.
I-Ie was advised to go into the house of God and
shut the doors. He answered, "Should such a
man as I flee? and who is there that, liieing such
a& I, would go into the temple to save his hfe?
/ -zinll not go h."

Of Jesus it is written, "And it came to pass, when
the days were well-nigh come that he should be re-
ceived up, he .sted lastly set bis face to go to Jeru-
salem" (Luke g : 5 1 ) .

When Mr. Moody was in England the last trnie,
he was having trouhle with his heart, He was ex-
amined by an eminent physician, who told him that
his excessive labors were costing him his life. He

was killing himself. He promised that be would not
work so hard.

On the voyage back to America, an awful storm
struck his ship, the Spree. She was partly sub-
merged, and in great distress the people appealed to
Mr. Moody. He exhorted and prayed. He told the
Lord at that time that if he would get them out of
this trouble he would never let up in his labors lor
lost souls.

That summer was the time of the World's Fair in
Chicago. M.r. Moody gathered such a band of
preachers, evangelists, workers, and singers as prob-
ably never was assembled for such work before or
since. Halls, storerooms, theaters, churches, and
even circus tents, were utihzed for Gospel meetings,
Mr. Moody worked with all his old-time vigor.
They "put over" a magnificent campaign. A few
months later, at Kansas City, while on the platform
preaching with all his tremendous energy, the great
evangelist's heart ga\'e way, his voice ceased, and
his labors on earth were over. A few days later,
among his friends at Northfield, he passed over to
join that heroic band who counted not their lives
dear unto themselves that they might wdn precious
souls to Jesus.

A friend of John Hyde's, hving in Calcutta, who
now knows what it means to Ik despised and rejected
of men, gives the following testimony as to John's
prayer life. "I remember W. T. speaking of dear
Hyde's having spent thirty days and nights ui prayer
for the great Sialkot Convention {that was in igo6) ,
when the Convention was opened for the first time
to all Christians.

"This news made a deep impression on me, as it
stood out in such contrast to my own prayerless life

41

'at that time. When he and I were alone, I pressed
Turner for more details, particulars o f which he was
very reluctant to give (as he himself had stayed
twenty-one days vvith the little prayer kmd). '1
cannot go into details/ he said, 'but it was a time in
the Mount with God.' "

Soon after the igiD Sialkot Convention, John
Hyde held a meeting in Calcutta. His friend in that
city writes about him : "He stayed with us nearly a
fortnight, and during the whole time he had fever.
Yet he took the meetings regularly, ami how God
spoke to us, though he was bodily unilt to do any
work! At that time I was unwell for several days.
The pain in my chest kept me awake for several
nights. It was then that 1 noticed what Mr. Hyde
was doing in hi.s room opposite. The room where I
was being in darkness, I could sec the flash of the
electric light when he pot out of bed and turned it
on. I watched him do it at twelve and at two and at
four, and then at five. From that time the light
stayed on till sunrise. By this I know that in spite
of his night watches and illness, he tegan his day
at five.

"I shall never forget the lessons I learned at that
time. I had always clainjed exemption from night
watches, as I feh too tired at bed time. Had I ever
prayed for the privilege of waiting upon God in the
hours of night? No! This led mc to claim that
privilege then and there. The pain which had kept
me awake night after night was turned into joy and
praise iKcause of this new ministry wdiich I had
suddenly discovered, of keephig watch in the night
w'ith the Lord's 'Remembrancers,' At length the pain
quite left my chest, sleep returned, but with it the
fear came upon me lest I should miss my hours of
42

communion with titxl, 1 prayed, 'Lord, wake me
when the hran- comes' (see Isa. 50 -.4). At first it
was at two A. M., and afterwards at four with strik-
ing regularity. At five every nioming 1 heard a Mo-
hammedan priest at the Mosque near by call out lor
prayers in a ringing, melodious voice. 'The thought
that I had been up an hour before him filled me with
joy.

"But Mr. Hyde grew worse, and the annual meet-
iup of his Mission was calhng him. Being an.i;ious,
1 induced him to come with me to a doctor. The
next morning the doctor said: 'The heart is in an
awful condition. I have never come across such a
bad case as this. It has been shifted out of its nalu-
• ral position on the left side to a place over on the
right .side. Through stress and strain it is in such a
bad condition that it will require months and months
of strictly quiet life to bring it back again to any-
thing like its normal state. What have you lieen
doing with younself ?' Dear Hyde said nothing; he
only smiled. But we who knew liim knew the cause ;
his life of incessant prayer day and night, praying
exceedingly with many tears for his converts, for
his fellow-laborers, for his friends, and for the
church in India !"

Then the friend writes how God taught him to
live a life of prayer through Mr, Hyde's example,
and how afterwards he too, Uke John Hyde, was
led into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings down,
down, down, farther and farther into the very
recesses of Gethsemane, till he too seemed to
tread the winepress of the wrath of God against
.sin all alone.

"The .spirit jeaIou.sly desires us for his own"
(Jas. 4:5; Alford), It is his highest desire that

43

there be in us ^ life of fellowship witli hims^elt. For
this supreme wisli of his heart he rises early, seeking,
knocking, unasked, uninvited (Isa. 50:4). How
much more it' asked and invited! Does not this fact
make the Morning Wutch unspeakably precious and
glorious?

He seeks communion Avith us because it is his right
and Dur benefit. He ^eeks this communion at the be-
ginning of the day. He would claim the Iiest, the
very best hour of tlie day, With so great a privilege
pressed upon us, does it not mean a solemn obliga-
tion on OUT part to cultivate this life of fellowship?

If we are willing, he will quicken and empower.

Remember Gethsemane ! Our Lord's appeal to
his disciples m his hour of supreme crisis was :
"Could ye not %vatch with me one hour-'" The
appeal, though thrice repeated, fell upon deaf ears,
because the enemy's power had overmastered the
disciples through sleep. Do we not hear the Lamb
upon his throne, "standing as though it had Ijeen
slain," make the same appeal again at this hour of
world-crisis, at this hour of church-crisifi, "Could ye
not watch with nie one hour?' The renewal of the
church will depend on the renewal of our prayer life.
T!ie powers of the world to come are at our disposal
if we will make time for quiet hours for fellowship
and communion, which is our Lord's supreme,
yearning desire."

Oh, ye who sigh and langdsh,
Atid inourn your lack of powcr,
1'Ci.I \c thi-- .gentle whisper:
Colli J ye not watch one hour?'

F;jr friiiEfiiliiLSS and blessing,
There is tto royal r<^d;

The power tor holy service
Is. intercourse wiih Gq4

44

^^Or e'er a word or action

Hath stained its snowy scroll
Bring the new day to J^siis,
And consecralc the whole.
Then fear not for the record;

He surely will indite,
Wliatever may t^etide thee.
It shall be, must be, right.

"Soon the b&t golden sunrise,

Shall deck the eastern sky;
Soon the last "Watch" be ended.

Redemption drawtth tilgh.
Then may this bright inccjitlve,

Within our spirits hurn.
It may he that this morning

The Bridegroom shall return [''

"The Calcutta friend concludes : "We have heard
of martyry who were kept in prisoUj and in the end
were put to death. But have we ever heard of one
who was so given up to the ministry of prayer that
tlie strain of a daily burden brought him to a prema-
ture grave ?"* "No, friend," aniwers another brother
in India, "not a premature grave ; :t was the grave
of Jesus Christ, John Hyde laid down his life calmly
and deliberately for tlie Chtifch of God in India."

''Who follows in his train?"'

Transformed Lives

Behold how much was wrought hi the life and
work of one lady mi5siona^}^ She had worked hard
for many years in her district and none of the work
there was bearing real frtiit. She read the account
of Mr. Clyde's prayer-life and resolved to devote the
best hours of her time to prayer and waiting on God
in the study of hi^ word and will. She would make
prayer primary', and not secondary as she had been
doing. She would begin to live a prayer-hfe in God's

45

i

stren^h, God had said to her : "Call upon Me, and
I will show thee great and mighty things. You
have not called upon me and therefore you do not see
these things in your work." She %vrite,5 : "I felt
that at any cost I must know him and this prayer-life,
and so at last the battle of my heart wa.s ended and
I had the victory." One thing she prayed for was
(hat God would keep her hidden. She hud to face
being misunderstood and Yieing tinmb and not open-
ing her mouth in self-defense if she was to be a
follower of the Lamb.

In less than a year she wrote a letter, and oh, what
a change ! New life everywhere — the wilderness be-
ing- transformed into a garden. Fifteen were bap-
tized at first and one hundred and twenty-five adults
during the first halt of the following year!

"The most of the year has been a battle to keep
to my resolution, I have always lived so active a life,
accustomed to steady work all day lonj», and my new
life called for much of the best part of the day to be
spent in prayer and Bible study. Can you not im-
agine what it was and what it is sometimes now?
To hear others going around hard at work while
I stayed quietly in my room, as it were inactive.
Many a time I have longed to lie out again in active
work among the people in the rush of life, but God
would not let me go. His liand held me with as
real a grip as any human hand ami I knew that I
could not go. Only the other day I felt thi.s again
and God seemed to say to me, 'What fruit had ye in
those things whereof ye are now ashamed?' Yes,
I knew I was ashamed of the years of almost prayer-
less missionary life.

"Every department of the work now is in a more
prosperous condition than I have ever known it to

be. The stres.i and the strain have gone out of my
life. The joy of feeling that my life is evenly
balanced, the life of conimunion on the one hand
and the life of work on the other, hrings constant
rest and pcaccc. I could not go back to the old life,
and God grant that it may always be impossible."

Another j'ear jiassed, and she wrote again : "The
spirit of earnest uiquiry is increasing in the villages
anti there is every promise of a greater movement
in the future tlian we have ever yet had. Our Chris-
tians now number &ix hundred in contrast with one
sixth of that ntimber two years ago [before she be-
gan the prayer-life and gave herself to it]. 'I believe
we may expect soon to see great things in India.
Praise for his hourly presence and fellowship!"

The pastor of a congregation in Illinois writes,
"We have lost a strong and noble brother, who has
not only done the Lord's work in the far-off land but
has been an inspiration to us as well aiid the means
of awakening at least one from this congregation to
such an hitcrest in the foreig-n work that to-day she
i.s in China." Who can measure John Hyde's in-
fluence and power in India, in England, and in
America ?

"J. N. Hyde was like his father. When duty
called, the call was imperative. He answered it not
with skyrocket exploitation and great ado, but with
unalterableness of purpose that meant this or death !
It seems God meant this and death. In the last class
letter he wrote to his seminary classmates he says :
'For tliree full years now God has given us decisions
and baptisms every day when we have been out in
our district — over a thousand the past two years- . . .
never a day if we were right with God without souls.''
'They that turn many to righteousness shall shine

as the stafs forever and ever,* Is there anything
Ml tliis old world worth while except seeking and
saving that which was lost ?'' ( Hcrricli Johnsan. )

Read of these experiences, as recorded by a mis-
sionary in India who wrote "An American Girl's
Struggle and Surrender."

"On the wall in my room hi India hung a motto
card. It is the picture of a stony hill with a little
green grass here and there. On tlie top of the hill
is a tree ; most of the branches on one side have been
entirely swept away by the wind and only a few
scraggly limbs remain on the other side. On this
card is printed : 'Endure when there is every exter-
nal reason not to endure.' And this verse ; 'He en-
dured . . . seeing Iiini who is invisible.'

"A dear young friend seeing this card said to me ;
'Memsahih, that motto card is lo me your photo-
graph. God has been cutting from your life one
branch after another and again and agahi has re-
moved earthly supports/ "

She and her husband were very happy in their
going out to India and during the first year. But
there were shadows over the pathway. The next
year God gave and ,5onn took to him.sel f a dear Uttle
life. From the first her liusband would ask God to
fill him with tlie Spirit at any cost to himself. At
first she couhl not pray this prayer. After the babe
was taken she would join her husband in this prayer,
and as tliey would rise from their knees she would
say, "But, oh, I am afraid of the cost," Then next
her husband was taken with fever. How she pleaded
and prayed and even commanded God. But he
passed away. For months she was dazed and scejned
oblivious to everything but her unutterable loss. It
was a year of great darkness.

But in the spring ('rod sent a luessenger (Mr. Regi-
nald Stutkl, a man from whom John Hyde learned
uuicli) through whom God revealed what He desired
to be to each of his children, their all in all, llie
chiefest among ten thousand, their heart-friend.

Christ possessed this man's life. Christ was to
him ail that the dearest earthly friend could he, and
inllnitely more. Not only was his life centered in
Christ, — Christ was his very life. He communed
with him as with a friend, spending hours with him,
his inruost lieiug was made radiant with Christ's
abiding presence, and wherever he w^nt "Christ was
revealed." Soon after meeting this messenger of
Christ she relates further, "In a written consecration
I gave myself, my child [Ixtrn shortly after her hus-
band's death], all I had and all 1 ever would have, ttj
the Lord, to W his forever. It was an unconditional
surrender and the Holy Spirit entered in his fuhiess
and began to lead me into the love and joy and peace
— a knowledge surpassing the love and Joy and peace
for which I had long been yearning. There came
to my heart a deep quietness. The 'Word- of God
opened up to me in marvelous richness, becoming
food for the soul.

'Tn the years that have followed I have again and
again Ix-en brought to places where two ways opened ;
one the way of the ordinary Christian life, the other
the way on which one secmetl to see the bloodstained
marks of the Saviour's footsteps; and he called
me to follow him — the slain Lamb. It has meant
the way of the cross ; but it has also meant fellowship
with Christ."

She writes further about "the Messenger" whom
God had sent to the Punjab who showed such a
Christ-possessed life. She writes ; "I do not remera-

49

Ijcr that he ever talked al.>out prnyer; he prayed.
Six:akiiig somelimea four and five times a day, he
would then impend half the night in prayer, sometimes
abne, sometimes with otliers. He prayed."

She gives lis modestly some glimpses of how won-
derfully God worked through her. Sometimes it was
among the Mohammedans, sometimes among the na-
tive Hindus, and sometimes among the foreign mis-
sionaries. She was associated with the Punjab
Prayer Union and the Sialkot Convention.

She says, "There have been many failures, times
when the self-Hfe hindered God. I am more and
more amazed that God has l>een able, notwithstanding
my failures, to work in such wondrous waySj and
has given me the joy of seeing him work,

"God offers," she continues, "to bring all who are
willing into the secret place^ within the vail, the place
of sweetest refuge, where 'all is peace and quiet
stillness.' "

"Within the vail. Be this. be[oied, thy portion,
Within the secret of thy Lord to dwell,
Beholding him, until thy face his gior>,
Thy life his love, ihy lips his praise shall tell.

"Within the v&il — (or only as thou gazest
Upoxi the matchless beauty of liis face
Canst thou become a living revtiation
Of hia great heart of love, hia untold grace.

"Within the vail — his frapTaiice poured upon thee;

Without thu vail, that fragrance shed abroad;
Within die vail his Iiantl &hall tunc tJie music,
Which sounds on eartK the praises of the Lord."

When I was a boy there was a pond near my
father's house. I would stand on the shore of that .
pond and throw a stone out into the water and then
watch the waves hi ever widening- circles move out
from that center, till every part of the surface o£ the

50

1

ponil would Ik in motion. The waves would come
tu the shore at my very feet and every little channel
and inlet would lie moved hy the ripples.

Sialktjt started circles and waves of blessing that
are even now heating in the secret recesses and inlets
of many human hearts. And I am led to iKlieve that
every atom and molecule of water in that pond felt
the impact of that stone. Only (iod and the record-
ing^ angel can determine how much the whok body
of Christ has l>een moved upon and benefitted by the
tremendou.s prayer force generated by the Holy
Sijirit in that prayer room at Sialkot.

Native pastnr.s, teachers and evang^elists have gone
home from these conventions with new zeal for Jefiu.s
Christ and have influencefl thousand.^ of lives in then"
many fields of lahor.

Foreign mistiionaries. have had their lives deepened
by visions of God. Letters and printed pages, like
the aprons and handkerchiefs from Paul's body ^ have
been sent probably to every country on earth to bring
healing; to the faint-hearted, and direction and en-
couragement to those desiring to enter the prayer
life, I am assured that tens of thousands have been
born into the kingdom Ijecause of the soul travail
at Sialkot. Myriads will one day rise up to thank
God that two or three men in North India in the
name of Jehovah .said, "Let us have a convention at
Sialkot !"

England Again

The meeting and visit in Calcutta occurred in the
fall or winter following the 1910 Sialkot Convention.
The next .sprhig, March, 1911, John Hyde started
home as the physician^ would say a ''dying man. '
He had arrived ill India hi the autumn of 1892, less

51

than twenty years tie(or<i. I! ill siin'ly tlwy were
nineteen liemitiful years !

When he arrived in England, he went to visit s<ime
friends In Wales, intending later to attend the Kes-
wick Convention. While in Wales he heard that Dr.
J. Wilbur Cllajiman and Mr. Charle.'i M. Alexan(fcr,
on their world-wide evangelistic tour, were holding a
meeting at Shrewsbury. With two of his friends l)c
went to the opening of this campaign. During the
first stay of three days a friend writes: "We greatly
enjoyed the .wrvices, but we realized that there was
some great hindrance, and this was felt especially at
th^ meeting for ministers."

"After that service we saw that the burden had
come npon Mr. Pfyde, and as we were leaving the
next day he asked whether we could engage his room
at the hotel for the following week. He was preach-
ing on tiK Smiday at another place ; but he uitended
returning early Monday morning to take up the bur-
den of prayer fur Shrewsbury. To those who knew
him, it was apparent that the load was weighing very
heavily upon him. The faraway gaze, the remaik-
aljiy sweet pathetic pained expression, the loss of ap-
petite, the sleepless nights, all went to prove this."

Here is Dr. Ch.apman's letter ;

"God has been graciously near to us iu all these
long journeys around the world, and wc have learned
some things which have increased our faith. First,
more than ever before we believe in the Bible as the
authentic Word of God.

"Second: We believe in prayer as never before.
I have learned some great lessons concerning prayer.
I know that all grejit revivals are born of prayer.
At one of our missions in England the audience was
extremely small — results seemed inipossililc — but I

52

received a note saying that an .'Vmerican missionary
was coming to the town and was going to pray fkitJ's
blessing down upon our work. He wa.s known as
'The fraying Hyde.' Almost instantly the tide
turned. The hall was packed, and my first ilwitation
meant fifty men for Jesus Christ. As we were leav-
ing I said: 'Mr. I-fyde, f want you to pray for me,'
He came to my room, turned the key in the door,
dropiied on his knees, waited live minutes without a
single syllable coming from his lips, f could hear
my own heart thiunping aiul his Ijeating. f felt the
hot tears running down my face, f knew I was with
Goti. Then with upturned face, down which tlie tears
were sircaniing, he said : 'Oh God !' Then for five
minutes at least, he was still again, and then wheii
he knew he was talking with God his arm w'ent
around my shoulder antl there came up from the
depth of his heart such petitions for men as f had
never heard before. I rose from my knees to know
what real prayer was. We believe that prayer is
mighty and we believe it as we never did before."

Mr. Charles M. Alc.'tander related to Mr. Hyde's
sister Mary further particulars about this meeting.
Not only did Dr. Chapman meet John Hyde, but Mr.
Ale.xander w^as present also. And the three of them
spent almost the whole day in conference about the
meeting. Then later the other workers were called
in, and a long time was spent in prayer. After that
the Spirit was present in the meetings in such power
that all barriers were broken down and sinners were
crying for mercy and being saved all over the house.

Mr. Hyde had a helper in intercession furnished
him hi the person of Mr. Davis of the Pocket Tes-
tament League, and the two, lieing kindred spirits,
became very friendly.

S3

Mr. Hyde remained there tor a whole week and
then went Ijack to his friends in Wales. The follow-
ing day he was seriously ill and cotild scarcely speali,
hut lie smiled and whispered: "Tlie burden of
Shrewsbury was very heavy, but my Saviour's bur-
den took him down to the grave,"

Tlie manner in wllich John Hyde prayed as re-
ferred to in tlie above quotation — that is of pausing
between petition.s or expressions is also referred to
by another writer : "Right on his face on the gro\md
is 'Praying Hyde'— tliis was his favorite attitude
for prayer. Listen I he is praying-, he utters a peti-
tion, and then waits, in a little time he repeats it,
and then waits, and tins many tinie.4 until we feel
tliat that [letition has penctr.ated every fibre of our
nature and we feel assured that God has hear<] and
without doubt He will answer. How well f remeni-
!ier him praying that we might open our mouth wide
that He miglit fill it (Psa. 8i : lo). 1 think he re-
peated the word 'wide' scores of times with long
pau.scs Ijetween. 'Wide, Lord, wide, open wnde,
wide.' How effectual it was to hear him address
Cod, 'O Father, Father.' "

A lady who was for years a missionary in India
writes to The Remembrancer, "t remeniter, during
one of the Juhblepore Conventions at the noon-tide
prayer meeting I wai; kneeling near to hint, and can
never forget how I was thrilled ivith a feeUng I
cannot descrilie as he pleaded in prayer: 'Jesus —
Jfjtij — Jesus!' It seemed as if a baptism of !D\e
and power came over me, and my soni was hum-
bled in the dust before the Lord, I had the privi-
le|;e of meeting Mr. Hyde again in England,
when on his way to America, How his influence
still lives."

54

'

Home at Last

"And (he (oils of t:ic road will ^t-t-m nntliing.
When we come to the end of the way."

John Hyde arrived in New York, August 8, igii.
He went at once to Clifton Springs, N. Y. His pur-
pose was to obtain relief from a severe headache
from which he had suffered tnuch before leaving
India. A tumor soon develoix:d which when oper-
atcd on became midignant and was pronounced by
the physician to be sarcoma, for which as yet medical
science has found no remedy. He rallied from this
operation, and on DecemlKr 19 went to his sister
-^the wife of Prof, E. H. Mensel at Northampton,
Mass.

But soon after New Year's he began to have pains
in his back ami .side. He thought it was rheumatism,
but tlie physician knew it was the dreaded sarcoma
again.

He pas.sed away February 17, igi2. His body
was taken by his brother \A'ill Hyde and his sister
Mary lack to the old home at Carthage, Illinois, and
the funeral was held in the church where his father
was tor .seventeen years the pastor. At the time of
Joint's funeral the Rev. J, F, Young, his classmate,
was pastor of the home church and preached at the
funeral, it was my privilege to assist in the service
and to stand on the platform and look down into the
casket at that dear, dear face. He was greatly ema-
ciated, but it was the same sweet, peaceful, gentle yet
strong, resolute face that I had known in 1901, — ^the
last time T saw him alive.

Tliat F''ebruary the 20tli w'as cloudy and chill
and gloomy as ont in beanti ful Moss Ridge we ten-
derly laid him beside his fatliur and liis mother and

55

liis brother Ecinnind. But I know that by and by the
clouds and the shadows will flee away, the chill and
gloom of the grave be dispelled, and that man ot
prayer and praise come forth in the likeness of the
Risen Son of God !

Holiness Unto the Lord

As I have carefully and prayerfully g^oiie over the
facts and incidents and experience-s in the life of my
dear friend, I am hiipressed that the one great char-
acteristic of John Hyde was holiness. T do not rneti
tian prayerfulness now, for prayer was his lifework.
I do not especially call attention to soul-winning, for
his power as a soul-wirmer was due to his Christ-
likeness. God saySj "Without holiness no man shall
see the Lord;" and we may scrJpturally say without
holiness no man shall be a great soul-winner. Mr.
Hyde himself said in substance, "Self must not only
be dead but buried out of sight, for the stench of the
unburied self-life will frighten souls away from
Jesus."

It does not seem that John Hyde preached much
about his own personal experience of sane tificat ion,
but he lived the sanctified life. His life preached.
Just as he did not say very much about prayer. He
prayed. His life was a witness to the power of
Jesus* Blood to cleanse from all sin.

Head these testimonip.s that have come to me from
a number of sources. Further search would no doubt
reveal scores of other witncsiies to the saintliness of
thi.s beloved servant of Jesus Christ, and man of
prayer.

From 3 publication in this country: "The Bishop
of Oxford says of personal holiness; There is no

56

power in the world so irrepressible as the power o^
personal holiness. A man's gifts may lack oppor^
tunity, his efforts ]je mi sounder stood and resistedj but
the spiritual power c)f a consecrated will needs no
opporttuiity and can enter where doors are shut. In
this strange anti tangled business of human life there
is no energy that so steadily does its work as the
mysterious, unconscitjus, siilent, unobtrusive, impene-
trable influence which comes from a man who has
done with all self-seeking. And herein lay John
Hyde's mystical power and great infliience. Multi-
tudes have Ijeen brought to their knees by prayer he
uttered when filled with tlic Spirit.' ''

This from a letter written to Mr. Hyde's sister,
"If ever there was a godly man, forgetful of himself
and devoted to the Master's service, your brother
was that one."

A native of India, "The marvelous spirituality of
Mr. Hyde had for some time lieen so great tliat all
who saw it were filled with wonder,'* These wortls
are by a missionary in India : "His loss will be sadly
felt in this country, especiallv liv the Indian Chris-
tians. He was one of the holiest men I have ever
know]ij and his life exerted a great influence."

One of his classmates writes, *'No saint of the
church was ever beyond him in holine^sS. tie verily
gave his life for Christ and India."

Another missionary in India wrote, "He revealed
a Christ-possessed prayer-life. He talked with Christ
as with a friend, spending hours with him. His in-
most being was made radiant by Christ's abiding
presence, and whcreever he went Christ was re-
vealed."

The Indian Witness says this : "He has had a very
remarkable influence in the Indian Church. A year

57

ago last autumn his addresses at the SialWot Conven-
tion produced a proioui]d impression. He was an
acceptable speaker in Urdu, Punjabi and in English
and it was always the man of holiness and power
back of an address which made it indeed a message."

Another India missionary writes, "He had become
a real prophet of God. He was truly one who spoke
for God. Thoiightftil men would sit for hours dur-
ing a day hstenitig to his wonderful exposition of
truth, as lie slowly, quietly, and clearly set forth what
the Spirit of God had taught him from His Word."

Kot oniy was his the word of a prophet, but his
life had been sanctified by tlie truth. One day a mis-
sionary was talking to a youjig Hintlu who had be-
come acquainted with Mr. Hyde, when the Hindu
said : "Do you know. Sir, that Mr. Hyde seems to me
like God." He was not far from the truth, for in a
sense unknown to his Hindu understanding this man
had become an incarnation. I quote from a postal
card written by John to his sister while he was at
Clifton Springs, N. Y„ dated October 27th, 191 1,
"Am slill in \xd or wheel chair getting a fine rest
and doing a lot of the ministry of intercession, anil
having not a few opportunities of personal Avork.
How the radiance of holiness shorn out in Jesus'
every H'oril and deed!" ^'cs, dear heart, and we
can truthfully and revercnily say. "How the radi-
ance of holiness shone out in John Hyde's every
word and dcecL"

A cry of anguish and a song of praise.

The Twenty-second Psalm

I am grateful to God tliat in a letter to John's sister
Mary has been pre5er%'ed the following exposition

58

and conmient on this wonderful Messianic psalm.
I am adding the full text of the Psahn where he has
given only the reference to verses. I have changed
a lillle the arrangeiuent, but the notes are from the
hand ot dear John liimsclf,
Psahn 22 ;

Verses 1-2: "My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me, and from the words of my groaning? O my
God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not-; and
in the night season, and am not silent."

David is here praying in some deep and terrible
trial, but the prayer is of agony — experience so real
and awful as to reveal to David Christ's prayer.
Jesus in the awful agony and desolation on the cross
used the words of the fir.st verse. God seemed to
answer in these words: "For a small moment have
I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting kind-
ness will I gather thee." Here in these verses are
the sufJerings of the lost and tlie victory of the saved.
The Spirit of Clirisf in David witnessed deafly the
sufferings of Chrisi ami (lie glory that should follow.

This prayer in verse I is the cry, the voice of the
.sufferings of hell, but by a person with tlie praise of
heaven in his heart.

Verses 3-5 ; "But thou art holy, O thou that in-
habitest the praises of Israel, Our fathers trusted
in thee: They trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered. Thev
trusted in thee, and were not put to shame." This
man was a Jew, and said "Onr fathers."

Verses 6-R: "But I am a worm, and no man,
A reproach of men, and despised of the people. All
they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out
the lip, they slialie the head, saying. Commit thyself

59

nnto Jehovah, let liini deliver him. Let him rescue
him, seeing he deligiitetli in him."

Here he is taking the sinner's place and enduring
what came to him on the Cross of Calvary, The
sinner's place and reproach, yet himself without sin.

Verses 9-11 : "But thou art he that took me out
o{ the womb; Thou didst make me to trust when
I wa.^; upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon
thee from the womb, Thou art my God since my
mother bare me. Be not far froni me; for trouble
is near. Por there is none to help.'' Here is "trust."
He says, "JMy God." Here i.s the right in himself
to be helped — no cry for mercy — just help which
is his by rigiit — the sinless Christ. Yet in his great-
est sufferings, "There is none to help."

Ver.ses 13-15: "Many bulls liaA'e compassed me;
strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They
gape upon me with their mouth, as a ravening and
a roaring lion. I am poured out lilce water, and all
my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it
is melted ivithin me. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and
thou hast brought me iuto the dust of death.'' Sur-
rounJed .by enemies and by fiercest adversaries
brought into "the dust of deatlt" — still unhelped,
God has become as it were his adversary : "Yet it
plea.sed the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to
grief." (Isa. 53 : 10.)

"Verses 16-1S: *'For dogs have compassed nie:
A company of evil-doers inclosed me. They pierced
my hand^ and my feet. I may count all my bones.
They looli and stare upon me. They part my gar-
ments among them, and upon my vesture do they cast
lots."

What a picture of the cross ! "I may tell all my
60

bones." How this tells of three years — yes, a hfe-
time, but especially of three years of sorrow over
our, my, sin, of prayer and fasting and watching,
sometimes whole nights; and then days and nights
of work^teaching, healing, preaching, and of grief
as tie saw sin and its hold and havoc — as he saw the
weaknesses and sins of God's own disciples !

"Tliey look and stare upon me." How this tells
of a human soul, sensitive and shrinking from the
gaxe of men. This tells of the indignities heaped
upon him which only the most refined and holy can
feel in all their power !

It tells too of astonishment ; "Many were aston-
ished at thee — his visage was so marred more than
any man, and his form more than the sons of men"
(Isa. 52 : 14). They were surprised, he was so
emaciated and worn. How this all tells of his sorrow
over sin. "Whose sorrow is like unto my sorrow ?"
"Oh! thou Man of Sorrow!"

Verses 19-21: "But Ik not thou far ofl^, O Je-
hovah ; O thou my succor, haste thee to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from
the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's
mouth. Yea. from the liorns of the wild-oxen thou
hast answered me."

Here again is a cry for help unheard, yet in faith
heard. Thou hast '"an.sw^ered me. " "It is hnished,"
"Into thy hands I commend my spirit.''

Here end these wonderful notes except that he
points out that in the remaining verses, 23-31, are
revealed "The glory that shall follow."

These words have been wonderfully blessed of

God in giving me a new vision of the Lamb slain

from the foundation of the world, who is worthy

"to receive power, and riches, and wisdom and might,

61

and honor, and glory, and blessing" (Rev. 5 : 12).
And dieii it lias seenwtl to mc that in no other
writings have I seen such a likeness of the dear
brother himseli. 1 have said, "John Hyde has here
unconsciously given us a portrait of John Hyde."

Victory

"The last enemy thai sliall he destroyed is Death"
(i Cor. 15:26), John Hyde had faced tile enemy
too many times in going over into "No Mall's Land''
to rescue the dying to he frightened when the last
awful encounter took place that February day in
Igi2. When John Hyde was in Eiijjland Mr.
Charles M. AIe.xander took him to his own dcjctor
and then a consultation with two other physicians
was held. The doctor then endeavored to impress
Mr, Hyde with the seriousness of his condition. Mr.
Alexander listened to the conversation. Surely Mr.
Hyde understood that really he was then in a dying
condition. Both Mr, Alexander and the doctor were
amazed at Mr, Hyde's perfect composure. He had
long ago ceased to fear death, and for hiiu to depart
and be with Christ wa.=^ far better.

I am per.^uaded that no words of mine could fit-
tingly bring this sketch to a close. But the descrip-
tion I am usinf; is from the pen of Dr, W. B. Ander-
son in Tlie Men's Record and Missionary Review
(United Presbyterian, ) Dr. Anderson was for some
years himself a missionary in India and was chair-
man of tlie committee that established the Sialkot
Convention. He was well acquainted with dear John
Hyde. He writes : "He went a long way into the
suffering of India and he Iiad desperate encounters
with her foe for her deliverance. To hint who dares

much in thi.s warfare God seems to give a wonderful
vision of victory.

"One day alxiut four years ago he wa.s talking of
an ex])eriencc he had on a day of prayer that was
lieing ohserved for India. He was speaking nitt-
mately to intimate friends. He said: 'On the day of
prayer God gave me a new experience. I seemed to
be away above our conflict here in the Punjab and
I saw God's great battle in ail India, and then away
out beyond in China, Japan, and Africa. I saw how
we ha<i been thinking in narrow circles of our own
countries and in our own denonii nations, ami how
God wns now rapidly joining force to force and hue
to line and all was beginning to be one great struggle.
Tlial. to me, means the great triumph of Christ. We
do not dare any longer to figlit without the conscious-
ness of this great world battle In whicli we are en-
gaged. ^

" 'We must exercise the greate.st care to lie utterly
obedient to Him who .sees all the battle field all the
time. It is only He who can put each man in the
place where his life can count for the most.' Alxjve
all the strife of battle he could see the great Coni-
nianiler whom he i\'as following so implicitly.

"When the word came to tis in India that after
severe suffering in America, he had been called
Home, it seemed to mc that I could hear something
of an echo of the shout of victory as he entered into
the King's presence. Then the next word that came
was that he had died with the words upon his lips :
■/?o/, Yisu' Masth, Ki JnH' ('Shout, the victory of
Jesus Christ !)

"When 7 heard that I thought of that awful time
in the life of our Lord when his foes were closing
in about hini. He knew that the tune of his sacrifice

63

was near. Just before him lay the desertion of his
disciples, and Gethsemane and Calvary. Yet in that
hour he said, 'Be of good cheer, 1 have overcome
the world.' Then I remembered the days and nights
when Mr. Hyde had struggled in India for those
bound by sin, and that after hours of agony he had
often risen with those about him to shout : 'Bol, Yisu'
Masih ki jai,' until this has tecome the great war cry
of the Punjab Church. As he sent that shout back
to us from the presence of the great Victor, let us see
to it that it rings throughout the whole world:
'Shout, the victory of Jesus Christ.' "

In Jehovah's Name, Amen !

Additional material regarding the life and ministry of
John Hyde has been published in more extended book
form by missionary friends in India. The book is entitled,
"A Present-Day Challenge to Prayer: Memoirs of the
Life of Praying Hyde," and copies may he obtained from
The Sunday School Times Company, lOU Walnut St.,
Philadelphia, Pa., at sixty cents each, postpaid.

6i